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    Introduction
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      <p> Csound is a unit generator-based, user-programmable computer
    music system. It was originally written by Barry Vercoe at the
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984 as the first C language
    version of this type of software. Since then Csound has received
    numerous contributions from researchers, programmers, and musicians
    from around the world. </p>
      <p>Around 1991, John ffitch ported Csound to Microsoft DOS. Csound
    currently runs on many varieties of UNIX and Linux, Microsoft DOS and
    Windows, all versions of the Macintosh operating system including Mac
    OS X, and others. </p>
      <p> There are newer computer music systems that have graphical patch
    editors (e.g. Max/MSP, PD, jMax, or Open Sound World), or that use
    more advanced techniques of software engineering (e.g. Nyquist or
    SuperCollider). Yet Csound still has the largest and most varied set
    of unit generators, is the best documented, runs on the most
    platforms, and is the easiest to extend. It is possible to compile
    Csound using double-precision arithmetic throughout for superior sound
    quality. In short, Csound must be considered one of the most powerful
    musical instruments ever created.
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      <p> In addition to this "canonical" version of Csound and
    CsoundAC, there are other versions of Csound and other front ends for
    Csound, many of which can be found at <a class="ulink" href="http://csounds.com" target="_top">http://csounds.com</a>.</p>
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